(Newser)
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Two Alameda County sheriff's deputies who chased a suspect to San Francisco—and allegedly beat him to a pulp once they caught up with him—have been suspended while the incident is investigated. In video released by the San Francisco public defender’s office, which calls the video "extremely disturbing," the two officers can be seen chasing the man on foot and hitting him with their batons after he was brought to the ground, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. They can be seen hitting the man more than 30 times before other officers arrive—and the public defender's office says that since the footage was taken from security cameras with 10-second lapses, the beating lasts twice as long as it seems in the footage, in which the man can be heard begging for help, KRON4 reports.

The suspect, who was hospitalized after his arrest, has been identified as Stanislav Petrov, an alleged car thief accused of ramming patrol cars before leading officers on a high-speed chase early Thursday morning, the Chronicle reports. Police say he took off on foot after crashing the car. Critics have accused the officers of using excessive force and likened the footage to the Rodney King video, the Los Angeles Times reports. "I was shocked by the brutality," a spokeswoman for the public defender's office tells the Times. "He is clearly not resisting. And they hit him multiple times in the head with their batons. It doesnt look like they're trying to subdue him. It looks like they're trying to punish him or trying to exact revenge." (Three Tuscaloosa cops were suspended after video of them dealing roughly with partying students emerged.)

"To Protect and to Serve!" or "StormTroopers of the Police State?" As soon as he was down, the handcuffs should've been put on. These two officers decided to let their ego be judge and jury rather than the lawful established processes and so this man should now be let free and the two officers imprisoned, fined, and all finances and personal properties confiscated and given to the beaten man as restitution as he has already served his punishment through this barbaric beating. Cops are very dangerous people who are amped up on coffee and donuts, driving at high speeds, overworked in 24 hour long shifts, and have full access to an armory of pain and death, depending on whatever bi-polar mood they are in at the moment.

Mongoose

Nov 17, 2015 8:12 AM CST

I suspect they were a tad upset that he had rammed them in an attempt to kill them while escaping, and that he endangered the public by leading them on a high-speed chase.